MLB

The Mets currently sit at 31-27, three games out of first place in the NL East and three games back in the Wild Card race. With just less than two-thirds of the season left, the Mets are going to need to make some things happen if they want to make the playoffs.

1)    Carlos Beltran Needs to Return Before/At the All-Star Break

Washington D.C. is home to some of the world's most visited landmarks. The Lincoln Memorial, Smithsonian and Vietnam Wall are heralded across the globe and attract millions annually.

We can now add another monument: National’s Park, the new home of Stephen Strasburg. 

In his 11 seasons prior to the 2009 season, Chicago Cubs’ 3B Aramis Ramirez made just two trips to the disabled list. Now, over the last two years, Ramirez has made two trips to the DL.

Last year, Ramirez missed 58 games because of separated shoulder and now in 2010, he has landed on the DL again. The Cubs placed Ramirez on the 15-day DL yesterday because of a bruised left thumb.

Robinson Cano doesn’t get the publicity of Yankee teammates Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Mark Teixeira, but he is having the best season of any Yankee position player in 2010.

He is currently leading the majors in hitting with a .376 average and is fourth in the majors in runs batted in with 46 with only Miguel Cabrera, Vladimir Guerrero, and Evan Longoria ahead of him.

In 2010, the Arizona Diamondbacks are 3-28 when scoring four or less runs.

Without much further investigation, it was safe to say that Arizona needed to pick up some additional help on the mound (no, Dontrelle Willis is not going to cut it).

And that's just what General Manager Josh Byrnes did.

His first eight, I repeat eight , picks at this year's draft were pitchers. 

"We are extremely excited about the quality of arms we were able to select throughout the draft," D-Backs' Scouting Director Tom Allison told foxsportsarizona.com.

Clayton Kershaw defeated Adam Wainwright.  The Pirates’ Jose Tabata and Brad Lincoln made their major league debuts to mixed results.  Is Delmon Young actually living up to the promise?  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

In the hours following Stephen Strasburg's Brendan-Fraser-in-The-Scout -level debut for the Nationals on Tuesday, my buddy Howie posed this question to me (@danhanzus ) via Twitter:

Most trade value: Mauer, Hanley, Pujols or Strasburg? I say #Strasburg easy.

Hey there, Phillies fans, I am not sure if you heard but the Washington Nationals had a young pitcher (I've got his name here somewhere) make his major league debut on Tuesday and he pitched pretty well.

The youngster (again, his name in a second) struck out 14 batters in 7.0 innings, throwing a dominant curveball, a fastball that regularly hit 99 miles per hour, and a changeup and slider that were simply baffling.

Now Phillies fans, I've sure you've heard all about this guy, but what you may not have realized is that he isn't the only youngster coming up in the NL East division.

The Houston Astros have finally begun winning ball games fairly consistently.

My only question is: Where were these Astros at the start of the season?

Carlos Lee jacked a grand slam in the top of the 10th inning on Wednesday night in Colorado, as Houston came back from an early deficit and the Astros topped the Rockies, 6-2, in wild fashion.

And it’s about damn time.

Just moments after Houston made their final selections in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, it finally appears as though the Astros are beginning to get things going this season.